(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the severing of strips from a continuous band of material and particularly to the cutting of tear-open strips from an advancing band of material and the subsequent affixation of such strips to a sheet of packaging material. More specifically, this invention is directed to the formation of narrow strips of a first material from an advancing band of that material and the subsequent placement of the thus formed strips on a sheet of a second material having a lower tear strength than the first material. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel apparatus and methods of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the formation of packages, cigarette packages for example, it is known to cut tear-open strips from a band of material and to subsequently apply such strips to a sheet of transparent packaging material. Prior art apparatus for forming such tear-open strips is exemplified by the disclosure of Federal Republic of Germany Patent Specification No. 1,586,093. In the prior art apparatus the tear open strips are severed from a band of material by cooperation between a fixed knife and a movable knife. Thus, in the apparatus of the referenced German Patent the movable knife is caused to move linearly with respect to the fixed knife with the result that the tear-open strip is essentially chopped from the band by the two knife edges. Experience has shown that this mode of cutting is undesirable in part because it has a tendency to impart distortion to the tear-open strip.